Killer Queen
by ohmytheon
Summary: When the FBI gets a tip that someone is planning to sabotage the Miss America Pageant, Agent Cassian Andor gets the chance to run his first op. The only agent capable of pulling off the undercover aspect is his less than enthusiastic partner, Agent Jyn Erso. While she struggles with the terror of beauty pageants, he's coming to a few unexpected realizations about his partner.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** So here's what happened. I wrote that Life as We Know It AU and then someone asked me to do an AU of another cheesy romcom. I plan on doing it. But then I mentioned it on tumblr and people began sending me other romcoms that they wanted Rebelcaptain AUs of and I decided, sure, why not? My legacy can be this: turning guilty pleasure romcoms in AUs. Miss Congeniality happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies, no guilt involved. As of right now, the chapters are planned to be alternating POVs. I already have the next chapter written from Jyn's perspective.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Rogue One or Miss Congeniality.

* * *

While the other men were positively ecstatic over the idea of being surrounded by beautiful women, possibly even putting themselves in the situation to "save them", Cassian Andor found himself staring down the barrel of a nightmare. Being stuck around a bunch of beauty queens did not sound like a good time to him, but then, most of his colleagues assumed that his idea of a good time was putting himself in life or death situations that involved him hanging out with bad guys and pretending to be one of them.

Why in the hell had his boss given him the lead on this assignment? Probably because he was the only guy that wasn't currently hunkered over a computer flipping through the files of female agents and making comments that were insensitive at best and cause for a sexual harassment complaint at worst.

Cassian pinched the bridge of his nose as the guys whistled and jeered. He needed to rein them in or they were all going to get in trouble and be forced into one of those seminars on sensitivity in the workplace or whatnot. Some of them needed it, but he'd never had any issues working with women. If he couldn't work with a woman, then he would've been dead, most likely because his partner would've murdered him herself.

"Oh shit, Cassian, check this one out!" one of the guys called.

He did not want to check anything out, but there was suddenly a nervous buzz in the room that propelled him forward out of curiosity. Doing his best to look completely uninterested, Cassian peered at the computer screen and got the shock of his life.

There, in a computer-generated and decidedly skimpy dress, was his partner, Jyn Erso. He'd never even seen her in a dress before, considering she either wore her uniform or the same practical clothes that did a grand job at hiding her figure. However, if this computer was right - and it had to be right, seeing as how he knew she was in shape from all the times they'd sparred together in one of the training rooms - she looked damn good in a dress. No, better than damn good.

Jyn looked mouth-wateringly attractive. It was an inexplicable revelation.

"What are you all staring at?"

Every man in that room whipped their heads around to look in the direction of the door while Cassian wisely hit the exit key on the keyboard and forced himself to slowly turn around. There was Jyn, in the flesh, but in the FBI regulated uniform. It was bland enough to make her look like any other agent, but if he paid attention, he could see the small curves under her clothes that the dress on the computer had accentuated.

Jyn's eyes narrowed at him and he jerked his gaze to the binder of files lying limply in one agent's hands.

"Well, we were attempting to find an agent that would fill the requirements of the undercover aspect of this mission," Cassian pointed out as he picked up the binder. He held it out to her, like an offering, but she ignored it.

"What about Agent Bey?" Jyn asked. "She'd be perfect."

"Still on maternity leave," one agent sighed, sounding too disappointed.

Cassian had to resist the urge to kick the man in the shin, but there was a larger problem in the room - or rather, standing right in front of him. They had gone through the files of multiple female agents, but for one reason or another, they couldn't be used. Either they were too far away, on assignment, off duty, or just didn't, well, look good enough. They needed someone and they needed someone fast.

That someone was looking directly at him, only he knew that she would absolutely hate it and him if he so much as breathed the suggestion. Special Agent Jyn Erso would not want to go undercover in a beauty pageant as one of the contestants. She'd probably prefer to be used as target practice at a circus.

Still, a forced smile somehow found its way onto Cassian's face. "We did find one agent that fit the bill perfectly."

"Oh?" Jyn snorted and took a bite of her sandwich. "Who's the unlucky sop?"

Cassian didn't even have to say anything. He just looked back at her, the room filled with men holding their breath and waiting for the explosion, and she looked at him while violently munching on her food. The silence filled in the blanks for him. The murderous expression that appeared on Jyn's face, however, had every man with half a brain scrambling out of the room. Except for him. He stayed. Because he was too stupid, too desperate, or too stubborn, he couldn't be for sure.

But he couldn't get the image of Jyn in that dress out of his mind.

* * *

"I'm not doing it," Jyn insisted. "There's no way in hell I'm going anywhere _near_ this."

Cassian swept his hair out of his face. "Planting an undercover agent in the pageant was your idea in the first place."

"That's because I thought no one, least of all you, would be ridiculous enough to volunteer me!" Jyn huffed, an angry, sweaty mess of a woman, and glared at him with the strength of a piercing round. He only blinked back at her in response, which seemed to piss her off even more. He'd thought that exercise or a little sparring would knock the fight out of her, but she was struggling even more than before.

And he was pretty sure that she was trying to knock _him_ unconscious.

The truth was that if he could have found another agent, he would have, but he also knew that being replaced would indirectly hurt her. Jyn's pride was as prickly as she was. He didn't think she even realized it sometimes. She was decent at undercover missions, but they'd never been her forte. It was almost always him that went undercover while she watched on the sidelines, doing her best to cover him and then rushing in when the op was over and it was time to round up the bad guys. She had a knack of busting down doors and getting scary men to stand down, despite the fact that she was so petite.

But there was no one else to take this assignment and, even worse, both of them knew it. He could tell by the way she aggressively swung at him that she knew, like she was trying to fight the fact itself. There was no win in this for her though. She'd have to accept defeat and do the job. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't going down without a fight. No, Jyn never did anything without fighting first.

A particularly harsh kick to the chest had him sprawling backwards onto the floor. "Hey!"

"You were distracted," Jyn told him as she scrambled on top of him to pin him down. What she lacked in height she certainly made up in fierceness. He'd seen her force grown men to cry out after getting them in a chokehold. But he also knew her ways and used her anger to his advantage.

Using his strength and size, he was able to get a hold of her and flip them over so that he was the one pinning her to the mat. She frowned up at him, her bangs plastered to her face, and jerked in his grip, but he held on tight no matter how much she wiggled underneath him. A smile crossed his face. "I'm not the only one, it seems."

Snarling at him, Jyn bucked her hips up, causing him to nearly leap out of his skin, and then kneed him. The hit just barely grazed against him, but it was enough to send him careening off of her onto his side. He was still cringing in pain and trying not to groan out loud when she pulled herself up to her feet. So small and yet she towered over him now, still brimming with irritation.

"I still think this is a stupid and terrible idea," Jyn said in a breathy voice.

Slowly, Cassian dragged himself back up. She had her hands planted on her hips and was breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down from her brow and slid down the side of her face, her wild, dark hair half out of the messy bun she'd thrown it in earlier. The front of her gray tank top was covered in stains and her skin was almost glimmering. She looked like a literal hot mess.

"It's the only option we've got," Cassian pointed out flatly, "or we let innocent people die."

Jyn's lips pressed into a thin line and her nostrils flared, but the moment she looked away from him, he knew that he had her in the bag. She was the type of agent that would throw herself in the line of fire to save someone. No matter how much this mission would serve to humiliate her, she wouldn't let someone get hurt because of her own insecurities or pride, though she'd never admit to either of them.

"I don't see how it's going to work," she finally said and then waved a hand at herself. "I mean, have you seen me? Even I know a disaster when I see one."

Cassian looked at her now and bit his lip. She did kind of look like shit, but for the first time, he had to wonder why. To be honest, Jyn wasn't unattractive. In fact, if he paid attention, which he'd never done before, all the signs that she was the complete opposite of unattractive were staring him right in the face. It was like she went out of her way to appear so, hiding everything that made her a woman and then some. Part of her it was her brusque personality, which many men accused of being unladylike, but it went beyond her not caring about her looks.

Was she doing it on purpose? If she was, he didn't think she knew it herself. And why?

The image of her in that dress popped into his mind again. Yeah, he had seen her. All she had to do was put in a little effort and she would be very much physically attractive. This half-cocked plan just might work. She'd hate every second of it, of course, but it could happen. They could do this. _She_ could do this.

But why did he get the feeling that the hard part would not be convincing her to do the mission? Why did it feel like the hard part would be convincing her that she was _capable_ of doing it? Oh hell, he was not prepared for this at all. Navigating Jyn was one thing and he'd gotten good at it compared to everyone else, but he had a bad feeling that this job was going to take them in directions their partnership hadn't gone before.

* * *

Cassian knew the second that the beauty pageant coach blew into the room like he was walking on a cloud, there was trouble brewing. Jyn's eyes narrowed into a sharp glare, which did nothing to deter the man. His assistant and partner, a burly man with a shockingly flowing mane, strode in after him, hands in his pockets.

"Tell me, Baze, how bad is it?" the coach asked.

Baze Malbus, the man in question, inspected Jyn closely, making her scoff and fold her arms across her chest. She was wearing a ratty pair of jeans and an FBI windbreaker over a t-shirt. He didn't look away from her as he replied matter-of-factly, "Like deep shit."

"Excuse me?" Jyn demanded, unfolding her arms and looking like she was going to physically attack.

Cassian leaped forward just in time to grab her elbow and hold her back. She jerked out of his grip, shooting him a look, and then stormed off. Watching her go, he sighed, put on his most pleasant expression, and held out a hand. "You'll have to pardon her. She's, ah, very on edge about this whole thing." He shook hands with Malbus and then with the pageant coach. "Thank you for coming on such short notice, Mr. Imwe. We couldn't do this without you."

"Clearly," Imwe responded, but he wore an amused look on his face. "It wasn't like I was doing much - I'm not exactly in high demand these days anymore - so when Baze told me the FBI was calling, well, I was intrigued."

"We needed an expert," Cassian said, trying not to look at Jyn, who was attempting to guzzle a cup of coffee and stuff a bagel in her mouth at the same time. She probably had a feeling that this was likely to be her last hurrah with food before she was forced to go on a diet. He almost flinched. He did not envy Imwe's job in having to train Jyn to be a beauty queen. "It's not every day we have to infiltrate a beauty pageant."

Imwe smiled cheekily. "I can hear you chowing down on those carbs from over here, Agent Erso!"

Since she had a mouth full, all Jyn could do was flip him off. It didn't seem to matter that Imwe was blind; he chuckled as if he knew exactly what she was doing.

"We can get you two settled in so you're ready to start tomorrow," Cassian explained.

"Oh, I don't think we have that kind of time," Imwe said. "If that's what we're working with, I need to start right away. Baze can take care of the rest."

The coach beckoned Jyn forward. She slunk over to them, like a child ready for a scolding, clutching the last half of her bagel like it was the most important thing in the world. Cassian tried to give her an encouraging look, but it only made her give him a look that suggested she would chuck that beloved bagel at his head if he so much as said a single word. He didn't blame her, especially not when he caught sight of the very high-heeled shoes that she was going to be forced to wear.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a long time since Jyn had cried, but nothing had ever made her want to whimper before - until now.

She stood nearly naked in the dressing room, staring in horror at the...contraption in front of her. Okay, maybe she was being melodramatic. It was a dress. And at least it wasn't ridiculously skimpy. But it was dark red and long with thin straps, a deep cut in the front that would do little to hide what little she had in the chest area, and a sheer material at the bottom that did nothing to hide the scandalously high cut up the thigh underneath. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd worn a dress, much less something this nice.

And they expected her to wear it and be able to walk in it with high heels? She was honestly terrified that she might step on the bottom and rip it off entirely.

"Almost done?" Imwe called from the other side.

Jyn gritted her teeth and snatched the hanger. He knew damn well that she wasn't almost done. The man just liked pushing her to the edge. He seemed a lot more confident than Cassian that she wouldn't strangle him after all of this was said and done.

As she put on the dress, she couldn't help but let her thoughts drift to her partner. She knew why he had chosen her for this assignment. She was the only one that fit the bill or at least came close. It wasn't that he thought she was attractive or talented enough to play the role of beauty queen. There just wasn't another option. Given one, he would've gladly taken it. Instead, he was stuck with her. He'd been on plenty of missions before, but this was his first time running an op himself. He needed to look good. If she messed up, it would be on his head.

Damn him. He knew she wouldn't be able to leave him hanging like this. He also had known just how to manipulate her. When they'd gotten word that there was a bomb threat hanging over the pageant, the FBI had jumped to intervene. It might be some dumb beauty thing, but there were innocent lives in danger. She couldn't just sit back idly and watch people get hurt.

Once the dress was on, she wiggled her feet into the shoes and did her best not to tip over. For some reason, being a few inches taller made her feel like her entire world was off balance. Okay, there, now she was done. She took one look at her reflection and cringed. She looked like an idiot. No way anyone was going to fall for this schtick and think she was the winner of a state beauty pageant. The judges were going to eat her alive and that was if the other women didn't get to her first.

"Alright, I'm coming out," Jyn announced as she pushed the door open and wobbled out.

She'd been expecting Imwe and Malbus to be there, but was also greeted with the sight of Cassian next to them. Normally, her partner was absolutely impossible to read. She had grumbled more than once over the fact that he was like that with even her and they'd been working together for years. It was as if he didn't want anyone to have a single idea of what he was thinking, as if they might use it against him. She'd gotten to know him better than most during the years of their partnership, but he still prefered to remain totally impassive and blank.

Right now, however, there was no mistaking the shocked look on his face. His eyes were wide, his eyebrows raised, his mouth parted slightly, and his face was completely open. It had the instant effect of making her blush almost dark enough to match the color of her dress and she hated him for it. He honestly hadn't thought she had it in her; he'd thought her too hopeless, too unattractive, too little. She bet he was questioning right now if this was the same woman that had gone in the dressing room.

It just made her feel humiliated. Either he'd thought that she wasn't attractive before or had now suddenly come to the realization that she was a woman. It made her feel like less of a person. Even worse, she couldn't tell what she wanted more. For him to see her as a beautiful woman or for him to ignore it altogether and look at her like she was just another capable agent.

"Not an entirely helpless case then," Imwe decided, "although I can feel the awkwardness radiating from you."

"Yeah, well, it's not very comfortable," Jyn shot back. She fiddled with the front of her dress, overly concerned that it wasn't doing a good job hiding anything. She couldn't even wear a bra with this thing. Really, she didn't have much up top, but she'd had trouble keeping them from falling out when putting the dress on. "It feels like it's not covering me at all."

"It's not supposed to feel like a blanket," Imwe sighed. "Think of it as water."

When Jyn glanced back up, Cassian snapped his mouth shut and averted his eyes from her. One of his typical impassive expressions fell over his face, but she thought that it looked a little forced for once. He placed his hands behind his back and straightened up, looking totally professional once again. If she hadn't seen him a few seconds ago, she never would've noticed a difference in his behavior.

"It must be doing something for you, however," Imwe continued in that annoyingly amused voice of his. "Agent Andor has certainly been rendered speechless."

Cassian smiled and this time she caught the tightness in its edges. "I'm needed elsewhere, I'm afraid. We need to make sure we have the proper bugs and equipment packed before we set up shop at the hotel. I just wanted to check in."

"Still think I'm the best fit?" Jyn asked.

His eyes shot to her and she did a little spin for him, doing her best not to topple over. When she turned back to face him, he was still staring at her. The smile had left his face, replaced by an unreadable look. She couldn't tell if he was relieved, irritated, or tired. Maybe he was disappointed. He never liked to show her that look; it made him feel bad. Instead, all he did was give her a little nod and was then on his way, leaving her to the torturous whims of Imwe and Malbus.

"I think he's reevaluating a few of his life choices," she heard Malbus mumble to Imwe. It took everything in her power not to storm back into the dressing room. Actually no, that was a lie. All it took were the damn shoes. She couldn't do any storming in these, not without some practice first, which she would most undoubtedly get.

* * *

"I look ridiculous," Jyn grumbled as she maneuvered her way through the hotel lobby. People bustled all around her, many of them pushing carts that carried large suitcases, and employees trying to get a handle on things. She had never seen so many women in bright colored dresses in her life. After all, she'd never gone to her prom in high school. This was completely out of her element.

"You look fine, Jyn," Cassian's soothing voice came from the earpiece, "just relax."

"Easy for you to say," Jyn harrumphed. "You're not the one wearing three inch heels trying to walk on carpet."

He didn't say anything to that, but she could just picture him grinning and she wanted to smack it off his face. Oh sure, he was getting a lifetime's supply of laughs out of this, him and all the other guys on the team. They were all cozy back in the room they'd sequestered for a base, snacking on junk food and take out, while she was slowly forgetting the taste of bread and beer. It wasn't fair. None of Cassian's undercover ops were this torturous, although they were a lot more dangerous. The only real danger she was in right now was a sprained ankle.

At least Imwe hadn't forced her into another long dress. She was still getting used to walking around in it. Instead, she was wearing a floral dress that rose just an inch or two above knees with capped sleeves and a modest neckline. They had determined that she did not have much in the chest area, but also this was a luncheon where she would have a chance to meet the other contestants for the first time. Malbus said it would be best if she did not look too intimidating, which she didn't think was a problem, except for her natural glare and frown.

"Please remember to smile, Jyn," Imwe's voice said.

Jyn plastered a smile on her face and replied tersely, "I am ."

"Smile, not cringe," Imwe corrected.

Ignoring him (but also trying to smooth her expression), Jyn pushed the door open into the conference room and slipped inside. She weaved her way through the tables, avoiding just barely bumping into the many other women already sitting down. Her eyes kept wandering to their sashes, which labeled them for everyone to see. It made her feel slightly ill, thinking of tags, but that might've also been the small breakfast she'd been allowed.

When she reached out to snatch a doughnut, Malbus sharply said, "Don't even think about it," and she pulled her hand away, just barely avoiding a scowl crossing her face. By the time she made it to her assigned table, she was imagining ten different ways to dispose of a body. She sat down, a little more harshly than intended, but it just felt so good to get off her feet.

"Oh, you must be the new Kansas!" one of the women immediately gushed.

"I can't believe what happened to Leslie," another woman said in a delicate voice.

A redhead smirked as she examined her nails. "Hey, I'm not complaining. Less competition. No way I'm gonna lose to a state runner-up."

"You're Miss Indiana," the last woman replied dryly. "I wasn't even aware you were competition." While the other women smiled behind their hands as the redheaded woman flushed, the one that had stood up for Jyn reached out a hand. She was younger than Jyn by a few years, the youngest in the competition, with a tightly coiled, dark-haired bun to the side that brushed her shoulder. "We're not all catty, I swear. I'm Leia."

"Kestral," Jyn replied, shaking the girl's hand.

"That's an unusual name," the first woman, Miss Georgia according to her sash, pointed out.

"My parents had their head in clouds when they had me, I guess," Jyn said, cursing Cassian for the hundredth time for the cover ID that he'd given her. Honestly, Kestral Dawn - what a ridiculous name. She sounded like a stripper at a space-themed club, not a beauty queen.

"All our parents are if they thought getting us into this life at an early age was a good idea," Leia added. It took Jyn less than a second to decide that she liked Leia and another to remember that Miss New York was one of the top contenders for the crown. She'd won so many beauty pageants at such a young age. It was easy to see why the other women automatically deferred to her, even if she was younger and smaller.

Her forlorn looks to the barely touched breakfast table must have been obvious because Miss Georgia pat her hand and gave her an understanding look. "We always want what we can't have at the worst times."

No shit. Right now Jyn wanted a dozen doughnuts, a cup of coffee, and to punch her partner in the face.

* * *

It frustrated Jyn to no end at how nervous she was. She'd conducted hundreds of interviews, walked directly into enemy territory, been shot at, stabbed, and more - and yet the idea of the coming days had her stomach twisted into knots. No matter how much she wanted to eat, she could barely stomach anything. Not only did she have flounce about on stage, but she would be interviewed for everyone to see and be forced to perform a special talent like some sort of performing monkey.

She highly doubted that excellent marksmanship or hand-to-hand combat would serve as a talent on stage.

"Can you sing?" Imwe asked. Cassian snorted from his spot in the corner, but didn't even bother looking up to give her an apologetic look. He alone had heard her sing karaoke one night when she'd gotten too drunk celebrating the closing of a large case. It hadn't been pretty. "I'll take that as a no."

"What about dance?" Malbus threw out.

"I can barely walk in heels," Jyn snapped. "How do you expect me to twirl about in these things?"

"You have to have some talent," Imwe stressed.

Jyn shrugged her shoulders. "I can dismantle a Desert Eagle and put it back together while under duress in thirty seconds flat." She caught Cassian nodding his head, though whether it was to her claim or a notation in the files they had begun to prepare, she wasn't for sure.

"One that preferably isn't tied to violence," Imwe sighed.

Slumping in her chair, Jyn tried to think back, but could only feel the telltale spiral of disappointment. She was going to fail the mission. She was completely useless. All that knowledge and all those skills she'd perfected over the years and all of them were pointless. She'd get kicked out of the competition for being nothing. She couldn't even smile as well as the other girls. None of their smiles looked fake or forced. What was wrong with her?

"You did color guard in high school, didn't you?" Cassian pointed out.

The old memories came swarming back to her, most of them not pleasant. Still, she nodded her head reluctantly. She had done color guard and she'd liked it. Even better, she'd been really good at it. Not that it counted for much of anything really. It wasn't exactly the coolest thing to do in high school. One of the football players had mocked her and she'd hit him so hard with her baton that he'd been forced to sit out the game the next night.

"Can you still twirl?" Cassian asked.

"Maybe."

Cassian picked up Imwe's seeing staff and politely asked, "May I?"

Imwe nodded his head and before Jyn could even blink, Cassian threw the stick at her. She snatched it out of the air, a little surprised, but with ease. It weighed differently than a twirling baton in color guard and was longer, but it was close enough. She'd preferred using a rifle while in color guard, but she figured that it would look poor in taste to use one here. Still, she stood up and began to twist the seeing stick around her fingers. A little rusty, but it came back to her as if she'd done it last week, shocking even her.

"Well aren't you full of surprises, Agent Erso?" Imwe mused. "How does she look, Baze?"

Malbus assessed her briefly before answering, "Like a natural."

Try as she might, Jyn could not ignore the spark of pride that came with the compliment nor did she miss the smile on Cassian's face before he returned to the file. It didn't look like it was filled with mocking, as she had expected. In fact, it almost looked pleased. More than pleased, happy . But that was ridiculous. He was still most likely cursing his luck at being stuck with her.

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit!"

Jyn was in a flurry. Her hair was perfectly done and her makeup on point, thanks to the stylists, but she was running far behind. All the other girls were ready in their outfits and putting on the finishing touches before they walked on stage, practicing their smiles in mirrors, and chatting with the other contestants. Meanwhile, Jyn was running like a chicken with its head cut off, heels in one hand as she clutched her bathrobe around her with the other.

She'd slept in late. She'd never slept in late before. How? Why?

It didn't matter. All that mattered was that she had to get ready, which meant putting this dress on as fast as possible. She nearly tripped over the back of another contestant's dress, earning her a sharp glare and word that had her flinching for the first time in years. By the time she reached her assigned dressing room, she all but threw herself inside and willed her heart to slow down. Her face was red from embarrassment and she was breathing heavily. Honestly, she wished a hole would open up underneath her and swallow her whole.

She couldn't do this. She couldn't. She'd gone on stage a few times already, carrying a foam torch and cut out of Kansas, wearing the same dress as all the other girls, but this was different. She was supposed to wear a dress that showed off her particular style of elegant fashion, except the words "style", "elegant", and "fashion" had never been in her vocabulary before. Malbus had picked out the dress and it was no doubt beautiful, but it definitely wasn't going to be her. It couldn't be.

None of this was her. She was a fake. She was going to wash out of the competition. She'd probably put the dress on wrong and everyone was going to laugh at her the second she stepped out on stage. Filled with anger and humiliation, she clutched the clothes hanger so tightly that it almost snapped in her hands.

"Jyn?"

Oh, great, it was Cassian, probably come to check on her because she was running late. She was going to ruin his operation if she didn't get her shit together.

Taking a deep breath, Jyn called back, "Yeah?"

"You, uh, ready in there?"

Jyn looked at the dress. No, she wasn't. "Just another minute." Quickly, she got rid of her bathrobe and tore the dress off the hanger. She wiggled into it as quickly as she could, but it was proving difficult. It was a plain black dress, which she was grateful for, but it clung to her figure tightly, showing off curves she'd done her best to ignore for years. The problem was that it was strapless and she could get to the back zipper without dropping it and spilling out of the damn thing entirely. "I-I need help."

"Help?" His voice was slightly higher than normal. "You want my help?"

"Yes," Jyn snapped, "I can't get the damn thing zipped."

After a moment of silence, making Jyn think that perhaps Cassian had run off to find another woman, the curtain pulled back and Cassian stepped in behind her. She caught the closed off expression on his face from his reflection in the mirror, but noticed how he held himself just a few inches away from her, as much as he could in the small dressing room, like he was apprehensive. That was dumb though; she'd never known him to be scared. Still, he held his hands up like he wanted her to be able to see them and he didn't know where to put them.

"It's in the back," Jyn told him. "I can't reach it."

"Ah" - Cassian's eyes flickered down - "right."

Her entire back was exposed to him. She might've been more embarrassed if she wasn't so preoccupied with the thought of being on stage. His hands fell down out of sight. The second he grabbed the zipper, his knuckles brushed against the bare skin of her back and she jerked upright as a tingle ran up her spine. He mumbled an apology, his voice deep enough to where she could practically feel it rumbling in his chest behind her, and then began to pull the zipper up at a painstakingly slow crawl. Every time he accidentally touched her, she felt as if she was being shocked. Not in an unpleasant way, just...uncomfortable. Unexpected.

When he was finally done, Jyn took a look at her reflection and sighed. She couldn't take a deep breath, not with the way it fit around her middle. What the dress lacked in ornateness, it made up with the way it hugged her, pushing her breasts up so that they didn't look as if she hadn't gone through puberty yet. In fact, with her hair done, brown curls hanging over her bare shoulders, she looked almost…

"I look like a doll," Jyn mumbled. "Painted and ridiculous."

Cassian's eyes were locked onto her reflection. Something was swimming in them, something she almost didn't recognize as she'd never seen him look like that before at her. She had seen it before, just not directed towards her, and this time, she really did feel caught off guard.

"No, you look… You look beautiful."

When she turned to glare up at him, he was already looking down at her. She was taken aback by just how close he was standing next to her. She could smell the cheap hotel bodywash he'd used this morning. Try as she might, she tried desperately not to react, especially when he put a hand on her shoulder and his thumb caressed the bare skin there, but it forced a light gasping sound out of her and she leaned towards him.

"Jyn," he breathed - and she swore that she was mad at him, swore that he was only looking at her like this because she was done up like the kind of woman he liked to look at, swore it didn't bother her in the slightest. He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing underneath the scruff, and it should not have done anything for her, but she felt nearly breathless and for once it wasn't because of the dress. "You're going to be late."

Reality came crashing down on her hard.

"Shit!"

Jyn snatched her shoes and brushed past him out of the dressing room. As she ran towards the curtain, she had to hobble in an attempt to put the shoes on while not stopping. She barely made it, slipping in behind Leia and Miss New Jersey, and was out on the stage before she could even think about what had just happened.

The blush on her face though had nothing to do with being on stage and everything to do with Cassian Andor. Damn him. What was wrong with her?


	3. Chapter 3

Right off the bat, Cassian could tell that Jyn was more at ease in this element. She'd managed to slip away from the other contestants so that they could go over what they'd gathered so far. With Imwe and Malbus out of sight, she could be an FBI agent again or at least closest to herself as possible. There was no dress in sight. This late at night, she was in shorts and a tank top, the thin bathrobe she'd worn earlier discarded on the bed. No makeup, though he could tell that she'd moisturized as Imwe instructed, and her hair was loose and still wet from a shower.

She looked very much like the Jyn Erso he'd worked with for years and yet somehow different as well. He couldn't put a finger on it and that bothered him. Her personality certainly hadn't changed. If anything, it had become even edgier since this op had started. So what was it?

When he'd brought out a package of oreos for her, he had been concerned that she might cry - and then he was scared that she'd choke with the way that she was inhaling them. On more than one occasion had she paused to revel in them, closing her eyes, sighing, and actually smiling.

"They're just cookies, Jyn," he pointed out with a grin.

"No, this is what heaven tastes like," Jyn insisted. "I've missed these glorious, empty calories."

"Just don't rat me out to Imwe or I'll never hear the end of it," Cassian told her.

Jyn clutched the cookies to her chest and mock-gasped. "And ruin this cookie smuggling operation? Never."

He had not forgotten how much she treasured her sweets. Whenever they had gone on stakeouts, she had been notorious about packing all the sugary snacks. He tried to be healthy for the most part, opting for salty when he strayed, but not his partner. She acted as if she'd been denied sweets her entire childhood and was trying to make up for it as an adult.

Setting the cookies aside, Jyn began to pick through the notes that they'd gathered during the past few weeks. One thing was for certain: while she was a mess in most of her life, she was very attentive to details during missions. He had known that she wouldn't let him down. While pissed off about the whole ordeal, she was going the extra mile. He couldn't help but think that it was because this was his first time running the op. They may have argued and had their fair share of contradicting work ethics, but they worked very well together. He'd seen partnerships go down in flames before, but theirs had been strong almost from the get go.

She might want to punch him for what he'd asked of her, but she wasn't going to let that affect the mission.

"So the first suspect is your new friend and roommate," Cassian announced.

"Leia?" Jyn shook her head. "I mean, I know she's determined to win, but I think killing the competition is a little over the top."

"Her history says 'a little over the top' is just her style," Cassian said as he handed over a file to her.

While she had been busy with the undercover aspect of the mission, he'd been compiling background information on everyone involved in the beauty pageant, including the contestants. They couldn't be sure who was behind the bomb threat. If they could get a plant in this competition, who was to say someone else couldn't? The fact that she was around a dangerous person at all times without any idea of who it was sat uncomfortably with him. Whenever he went undercover, he knew who the dangerous people were: all of them.

Better the danger you know than the danger you don't.

Jyn's eyebrows raised. "This is...unexpected."

"Yeah, normally, the kind of dirt on a senator's daughter would be partying or maybe possession," Cassian replied, "but Miss New York has a history of some very serious protesting."

"How has this not been caught before?" Jyn asked as she sorted through the pictures.

"Well, for the most part, she's very open about her involvement," Cassian explained. "She's very passionate about these things and uses her name and face to get the word out. She's careful, too. Shows her face at all these events, gives multiple speeches, great sound clips and quotes." He paused her search through the file to pinpoint a few things. "She's a little more...undercover for the riskier events."

"You think this is her?" Jyn asked, pointing to a figure in one picture. The person was darting through tear gas wearing a bandana, hat, and sunglasses. It could've been Jyn herself for all it looked.

"She's good," Cassian admitted, "but I'd like to think I'm better." Jyn whistled and then continued perusing the pictures, locking in on the figures circled in each one. "No one was seriously hurt in these endeavours, but people were arrested and questioned. They're a loyal crowd though. Nothing was pointed at her."

Jyn snorted. "Well, I guess this is one way at achieving world peace."

"We're also looking at the MC," Cassian continued.

"Ugh, good, now there's a suspect I can get behind," Jyn said as she took the new file from him. "The man's a sleeze. He's outdated, pompous, and thinks he's the star of the show."

"And yet I bet he doesn't look half as good in a bikini as you," Cassian quipped.

Jyn's eyes flickered up to his briefly, but she didn't say anything before returning to the file. To be honest, he was kind of grateful. He had no idea why that had come out of his mouth. Normally, he was excellent at thinking before saying things, seeing as how it was sometimes a life or death situation, but that had come out of nowhere. Even worse, now he was left thinking of what Jyn did look like in a bikini. The swimsuit part of the competition was coming up. He supposed he'd find out. Not that it mattered or anything. She looked good now.

"They're firing him?" Jyn looked up. "He told everyone that he was retiring after this year's pageant."

"There have been a few complaints lodged against him that he can't dodge anymore." Cassian wiped at the bottom of his face. He'd need to shave soon. He just always forgot. "It's been kept very hush-hush so lawyers aren't brought in, but he's kicking up a fuss and made a few threatening comments."

"Let me guess," Jyn drawled. "The show can't go on without him? He created this? It's his baby? I know he's been attached to this for longer than we've been alive, but do you think he'd kill for it?"

Cassian shrugged his shoulders. "I've known men to kill for less perceived slights."

"This is absurd," Jyn huffed as she stood up, snapping the file shut and tossing it back on the table with the rest. There were a few more possible suspects that they had to sort through, but those were the two most promising. "All this drama for a show about dressing up women like dolls on a shelf."

She hated it. She hated every second of it. She and Imwe were at each other's throats every time he tried to teach her something new. The talent part of the competition had gone surprisingly well. The outfit that she'd been put in though had nearly caused the fight of the century. If not for Malbus jumping in between the two of them and Cassian snatching Jyn around the waist to pull her back, it could've gotten very ugly. The sparkling cheerleading get up had looked like a mixture of a pervert's wet dream and a Barbie outfit, but it worked alongside all of the other contestants' absurd outfits.

But he knew that if he apologized, if he tried to say anything that might sound like pity, Jyn would snap at him faster than a viper. He never complained when he was forced to get his hands dirty while undercover; he knew that she would be furious with him if he so much as hinted that he thought she believed she was having it worse than he ever did. But he did feel bad. There was putting someone in a dangerous situation for a job and then there was putting someone in a situation that made them very much uncomfortable and upset. The first was normal for them; the second honestly was not.

"Ugh, can't I just stay here - with you and the cookies?" Jyn flopped back onto one of the beds. "I like Leia and all, but it feels nice to just...get out of there. I can just sleep right here and be back before dawn."

"Then where would I sleep?" Cassian pointed out. "That's my bed."

Jyn pointed to the other bed. "Take that one."

"Uh, no, that's Agent Kay's, and he is not one for sharing."

"The floor then."

"You'd consider me sharing a bed with Kay and the floor before you sharing a bed with me?" Cassian asked. "That's so kind of you after I brought you contraband."

At that, Jyn propped herself up on her forearms and stared at him. "You wouldn't mind sharing a bed with me?"

Cassian narrowed his eyes at her, locking them in a dead stare. Was she trying to goad him or was she just asking him a question? He couldn't tell. Jyn typically wore her heart on her sleeve for everyone to see. He'd gotten exceptional at reading her, even when she was doing her best to hide. It came with being good at being unreadable himself. But this undercover gig was giving her a chance at practicing all the things that came natural to him. Imwe was basically teaching her how to pretend, which in turn made it more difficult for Cassian to figure out what was going on in her head.

"Whatever, I can't do anything that would make Leia question me," Jyn sighed disappointedly as she sat up the rest of the way and dragged herself off of the bed. "We've got a free night tomorrow, which means girl's night out apparently. I'll try to get something out of Leia thanks to the truth serum that is alcohol."

And with that, she snatched her bathrobe and was gone. Cassian leaned back in his seat and scratched the back of his head, looking at the bed. The comforter was still indented slightly from where she'd been laying. For some reason, he just knew that it was going to cause him problems tonight.

* * *

A girl's night out should not have been nerve-wracking and yet it was. Jyn was putting herself out there. Gathering information directly from a suspect's or criminal's mouth was dangerous. One wrong word, one push too many, and the person could become suspicious. It was like a game of chess. You had to anticipate how the other person would react before making a move. You had to be careful, subtle, delicate.

Jyn's typical tactics were none of those things.

They'd gone to bars before while on ops, but nothing like this. The other guys on surveillance duty had been practically frothing at the women to the point where he'd been forced to sit them all down and give them a talking to like they were teenage boys. Honestly, he didn't know what was wrong with them. Yeah, the women's dresses were almost all short and tight, but it wasn't like none of them had never seen a woman before.

And then Cassian nearly choked on his coffee when Jyn came into view.

There was no way in hell that she was comfortable wearing a dress that short. His suspicions were confirmed when he caught sight of her tugging at the hemline to no avail. Her hair was down, soft brown waves trailing over her shoulders and down her back. He could tell that she'd done her own makeup; it was a lot more natural than what the stylists did to her for the competition. She looked great though, if not a bit intimidating in his opinion, like the kind of girl you'd seen at a bar and want to approach but would think twice about it. Then again, that was Jyn naturally to a t.

One of the guys whistled. "Damn, Andor, your partner is hot."

Cassian shot the agent a look that told him under no circumstances was he to ever utter those words again. It shut the guy right up and he sunk back in in his seat.

The plan for the night was simple. A few taxis were taking a handful of the girls to the nearest night club where they could drink the night away and let loose for a bit. They didn't have anything going on until tomorrow night, so none of them seemed too concerned. After some drinking, Jyn would attempt to carefully needle Leia Organa for information concerning her more intense activist proclivities. The hope was that if Leia got suspicious of Jyn's questions, Jyn could play off as a talkative drunk. Which she wasn't. She tended to get quiet when she drank; he just hoped she wouldn't fall into that mood.

Meanwhile, Cassian and a small team would follow them in a surveillance vehicle. They had bugs planted and the earpiece Jyn was wearing so that they would be able to hear what was going on. Two agents would be inside the club so that they could keep a visual on the targets since all of their video equipment was centered around the hotel and backstage. Cassian had decided to stay inside the truck. He would've liked to have been out in the field, but it was best if he stayed back and coordinated.

As the women slipped into the club, music started to take over the mics, but luckily they could still hear things. He had worried that it might get too loud, but Jyn's voice carried through clearly and they'd planted enough bugs so that they could sort through multiple conversations.

"Alright, ladies, let's do some shots!" a woman, Miss Texas from the sound of it, called.

"Uh, shots? Seems a little excessive." That was Jyn. She was the clearest. He'd never known her to turn down a shot.

"Oh, honey, it gets you more bang for its buck," Miss South Carolina pointed out. "Plus, less calories. All that juice in this mixed drinks gets you in the end, so much sugar."

All of them had fully expected the girls to order the girliest drinks, but it appeared as if none of them were even considering it. A few ordered vodka waters, but besides that, it was shots. No beer. Jyn was probably melting on the inside from being so close and yet so far. At least she could drink bourbon, seeing as how Miss Kentucky would take nothing less than bourbon or moonshine. The girls cheered and started the night. It began to dissolve after that as groups were made and the agents set to work to listening in and waiting. It was going to be a long night.

About an hour in, he could tell that some of the men were getting restless. Nothing of import was being said. Mostly it was just women talking about men, other contestants, and swapping some absolutely wild stories that were entertaining and eyebrow-raising but essentially useless. Jyn meandered her way through most of them, speaking every now and then, but mainly listening herself. She was having trouble fitting in. He could feel her spiraling on the other end, stressing out that she couldn't make proper contact.

"C'mon, Jyn, you got this," Cassian muttered to himself.

He didn't think she could've heard him, but then there she was, loud as can be, on the other end. "Leia, how about another round?"

"Think you can keep up with me, Kansas?" Leia taunted.

"What else is there to do there, you think?" Jyn countered and the two women laughed. He heard Jyn order them another round of drinks, vodka waters with lime, and then push their way back to the table. "So what about you? Get up to a lot of partying up in New York?"

"Not unless you count dinner parties and fundraisers," Leia replied. "Being a senator's daughter can be a real bore. You can't do much of anything in case it'll cause a scandal."

"You don't seem like you're afraid of pushing the envelope," Jyn pointed out.

"Oh, what makes you say that?"

"Well, it takes a certain kind of person to get involved with protests against Wall Street and big banks when their father probably gets money from them and they tend to donate to these kinds of competitions."

Cassian leaned forward in his seat. "Careful, Jyn, careful. Less bulldozer."

There was a brief pause from Leia. "It can complicate things. The pageants are a double-edge sword. On one hand, they give me more fame so I can use it to get more messages out. On the other, people don't take me seriously because they see me as just some pretty beauty queen."

"Sounds like the kind of thing that would make someone do something drastic to be heard."

"Don't just ask her right out if she plans to bomb the pageant!" Cassian hissed.

"What are you saying?" Leia questioned.

"Nothing," Jyn replied flippantly, "I just know how it is. To work so hard and be passionate about something that makes up a huge part of who you are and not be taken seriously because I'm a woman or just a pretty face. It sucks. It's like a punch to the gut."

Leia let out a sigh. "You're right. All I want to do is help people and do some good with what I've been given. But I'm either too young, too attractive, or too…"

"Bitchy?"

"Yeah!" There was the sound of ice rattling. Leia must've finished her drink already. "I want to go into politics like my father, but now I have to worry if my decision to do these beauty pageants like my mother wanted might hinder that future. They've given me a platform without resorting to using my father's name, but it feels like they've hurt me as well. I'm going to Yale, for god's sake, but people just see me as some dumb pageant girl."

"It's not fair," Jyn said, almost sounding just as angry. "All of this - it isn't who we are. It's just a part of us. But all men can see are a pair of smooth legs and boobs and everything we've accomplished goes to the wayside."

Was that what Jyn really thought? Was that why she went out of her way to hide everything about her appearance? So that she wouldn't be judged? She did make herself appear as more masculine, perhaps as a way to compensate for the fact that she was pretty. She'd done an excellent job. None of the agents had even considered her for the undercover aspect. It had been by accident that her name had come up on the computer.

Even worse, he could recall on more than two hands the times that other agents had called her a "bitch" or worse. It never phased her; she wore it like a badge of honor. It had always pissed him off, but he'd never said anything about it either. He trusted her; he appreciated her work ethic; and he knew that she was a damn good agent. Nothing else mattered. But had he been guilty too in some way? Of ignoring a part of who she was? He just saw the agent sometimes, his partner, that he tended to forget that she was also a woman.

Now it was something that none of them could ignore. This competition had forced it upon all of them, maybe even her. She was a woman. He'd reacted to it, no matter how much he tried to deny it. The other guys had too. He had noticed a few changes. The men weren't as afraid of her as before and a few had even talked over her or outright ignored what she said. He had recognized the murderous look on her face immediately, but she had bit her tongue instead of lashing out like usual. She was saving it for later, most likely, once this mission was over. More than a few people were going to regret how they acted.

"Let's get another drink," Leia decided, snapping Cassian out of his thoughts. "Screw men!"

Jyn laughed. "I couldn't agree more."

Cassian cleared his throat. "That's it? You're just going to leave it at that?"

"Patience, Cassian," Jyn grumbled over the listening device.

"You're lecturing me on patience now?" Cassian questioned.

"Kestral, how about a shot?" Leia's distant voice called.

"You need to press her for more," Cassian insisted.

Jyn practically growled on the other end. "You know what? I can't do this with you in my ear. Neither one of us were made for girl talk." And with that, the sound of her plucking the earpiece out came over the speakers.

"What are you-?" Cassian jumped to his feet. "Jyn. Jyn!" There was a plunking sound and then the line crackled and went dead. She'd dropped her earpiece into a drink, effectively cutting them off from her. She was offline. He jerked his headphones off and tossed them onto the table. "Damnit!"

"I mean, what can we really do?" one of the guys asked. "It's just a bunch of girl talk."

"She could be having 'girl talk' with a potential bomber," Cassian snapped, shutting the guy up. How could she have done this? No, no, he knew. She thought he didn't trust her to complete the mission. Maybe she thought he believed she had gone soft after all the feminine changes. He rubbed the bottom of his face. He did trust her. He knew she could do what needed to be done.

So he did what she wanted him to do: he waited. But if she didn't make contact in an hour, he was going to have to do something.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been aware how excruciating the hour would be. He spent the time listening in on the other devices and checking with the agents that were stationed inside, but it felt like the minutes were crawling. Deep down, he knew that Jyn was safe. He'd been in much worse situations while under radio silence; he'd even had his cover blown and his wire found. Still, he just didn't like the idea of her being alone in a situation that he knew she found uncomfortable. He was her partner; he was supposed to have her back.

Once the hour was up, Cassian stood up and began to take off his tie. "I'm going in."

"Sir?"

"It won't be for long," Cassian said. "I just want to touch base."

He threw the tie over the back of his chair and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt. Once that was taken care of, he ran his fingers through his hair, giving it a careless toss. Jyn always made fun of him for wearing his uniform even when doing surveillance, but he'd always been taught that the first step to being something was looking the part. With just a few adjustments though, he looked as if he was planning on a night out.

After jumping out of the van, Cassian walked over to the club. It was late, so the line to get in wasn't that long. The bouncer at the front didn't even blink at him when he stepped inside. The scruff on his face made it quite obvious that he was old enough to drink. It took a second to adjust to the loud music and the flashing lights, but once he did, he spotted the girls almost instantly. They weren't difficult to find. A group of very attractive young women wearing their best clubbing outfits, dancing, laughing, having fun. Any straight guy would have to be an idiot to not notice them.

Jyn was near the edges, but she wasn't alone. There was Leia, along with Miss Georgia, Miss Kentucky, and Miss Washington. All of them had a drink in their hand and were dancing while talking. Jyn's cheeks were pink and there was a fresh glow about her, but she wasn't sulking like she normally did when she drank. In fact, the grin on her face looked very much genuine. His heart slowed upon seeing her safe, instantly reassured, but that didn't mean he was going to just let it go.

He got a drink and sipped on it at the bar while he looked around until he saw his opening. A man approached Miss Kentucky and pulled her out onto the dance floor with him. Cassian knew that it wouldn't be much longer before other men braved up and did the same now that one had done it. He finished his drink, set it down on the bar, and weaved his way through the crowd towards them. Just before another man could step in, Cassian cut him off and appeared before Jyn.

"How about a dance?" he asked.

Jyn's eyebrows shot up, very much surprised at seeing him, but she didn't push him away. She hadn't expected him to show up, but she wasn't as mad as he'd worried she'd be. Instead, her grin took an impish turn and she looked at the girls around her. "What do you say? Should I give the man a dance?"

"He looks determined," Miss Georgia giggled. "A lot braver than all the other guys you've scared off all night."

Cassian gave Jyn an easy smile, one that told her she could say no if she liked. Her eyes flashed to him again, sizing him up. When her eyes roved over him, he almost squirmed for some reason, but held his ground. She was quite intimidating, in more ways than one. He'd seen her force men to back down with just a look. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders and took his hand, allowing him to guide her onto the dancefloor. Immediately, he spun her around, catching her off guard, so that her back was pressed against his chest.

"Quite the stunt you pulled," Cassian murmured in her ear.

Jyn leaned her head back against him. "I felt like I was being torn in multiple directions. I couldn't concentrate."

"Sure it wasn't the alcohol?"

"Oh, please, half of these vodka waters have just been water," Jyn scoffed.

That was his partner. He almost smiled into her hair as they danced together. When he slid his hands down to her hips, she took a sharp breath and pushed back against him, startling him a little. Right, this was his partner. And they were grinding against one another. He couldn't help but think that all eyes were on them, but no, it was dark and the flashing lights offered little vision. Besides, everyone else was doing the same thing around them. They blended into the crowd.

He didn't see how. Jyn looked electric right now in this dress. He was very aware of the fact that his hands were close to her bare skin. He could move his thumbs and they would be able to caress the small of her back, which was being shown off by the swooping material, or the tips of his fingers could skirt just a few inches and would graze her thighs. She really didn't know how to dance, but it didn't matter. Every time her body pressed against his a spark shot through him.

"Imwe allowed you to wear flats?" Cassian asked, trying to think of something. "I'm shocked."

"Alcohol and heels sounded like a terrible combination," Jyn pointed out cheekily. "Besides, he said most of the girls would take off the heels halfway through the night anyways."

"Speaking of the girls-"

Jyn turned around and looped her arms around his neck. He tensed at the way the front of her body pressed against his intimately, but she didn't seem to notice. At least he managed to keep a schooled expression on his face. He did not want to know how she'd respond to him reacting like that.

"It's not her," Jyn said, her face close to his.

"Are you positive?"

"It's not," Jyn insisted, "but I did find out some more information on our favorite sleezy MC." She smirked up at him. "I'm not entirely hopeless."

"I never thought you were," Cassian told her honestly.

For some reason, that seemed to shake something out of Jyn. Her smirk faltered as she stared into his eyes, like she was trying to determine if he was telling the truth. He knew how he was: on more than one occasion he'd been told that he was almost impossible to read. He'd been like that for years. Working in the Bureau had made it worse or better, depending on who you asked. It was a part of the job, but it was also a defense mechanism. He couldn't even say where it had come from.

Jyn bit her lip. "I know I was your last choice for this mission, but-"

"I didn't want to put you in a situation that would upset you," Cassian interrupted, "not because I thought you weren't capable of doing it. You're one of the best agents I know."

"Yeah, but look at me." Jyn rolled her eyes. "I'm not beauty queen material."

"Maybe not," Cassian conceded, "but you are beautiful."

Jyn stilled against him, no longer dancing. He turned them around so that she was out of view of the other girls and kept moving to make it look like they still were, but she'd frozen on him like a deer in headlights. When one of the lights flashed against her face, he got the distinct impression that she was scared - that there was actual fear in her eyes - but he couldn't understand why. It was the truth.

"You're just saying that because of all the stupid dresses and makeup," she said defensively.

Cassian chuckled. "I'd be lying if I said they didn't help, but I've known you were attractive for a while. It just never seemed appropriate to say."

Jyn's fingers curled around the back of his neck, sending a tingle down his spine. "And it is now?"

"I shouldn't have presumed," Cassian said. "Forgive me?"

There was something about the way she was looking at him now, something different than before. He couldn't remember ever seeing her look like this. Soft, a little wary, but open as well. It was the kind of look that was inviting and prompted him forward without thinking. His grip on her tightened as she pressed up against him.

And then there was Leia, pulling Jyn away. "Kiss loverboy goodbye. Our rides are here!"

A very startled look crossed Jyn's face, as if she hadn't been aware of just how close she'd been to him. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Cassian forced a smile onto his face. "A pleasure dancing with you, Kestral. Good luck with the competition."

"Right." Jyn's mouth snapped shut and she pressed her lips together in a thin line. "I'll see you around."

Leia ducked her head in close to Jyn's and he could just make out, "Oh, he's handsome," before the two of them vanished into the crowd. He saw them once more when the doors opened and they poured outside with the other contestants.

Once they were gone, Cassian immediately made a beeline for the bar and ordered another drink. He slammed it back quickly before setting the glass on the bar. The agent standing next to him started to say something, but Cassian snapped, "Not a word," before leaving the bar out the back. He needed the cool air and some time before he returned back to the van. The last people he wanted to be around were the guys. He wanted Jyn.

Groaning, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Not now. This was ridiculous.


	4. Chapter 4

This was it. The end. The worst part. The moment she had been dreading since she'd agreed to go undercover on this damned mission.

The swimsuit walk of shame.

Jyn rubbed her face as she stared at the bathing suit in question. Could it be a bathing suit if the material seemed to be lacking? How was it supposed to cover her anyways? Who had decided that turning an already flimsy piece of clothing into two even smaller pieces of clothing was a good idea anyways? She'd hoped that maybe she would get by with a one piece at least, but then this two piece monstrosity showed up and she almost screamed.

"I can't do it," Jyn said, unable to stop herself.

"Yes, you can," Imwe insisted. "It's only for a short period of time."

"I can't," Jyn repeated, shaking her head. She was acting like a whining brat and knew it, but couldn't stop that either. She'd never worn a bikini before. In fact, the last time she'd worn a swimsuit for others to see had been in gym class when she was in high school and hadn't had a choice.

Imwe sighed, but it wasn't tired or irritated. He was endlessly patient, but then, he had to be if he was going to be capable of working with her on this. "Jyn, why are you so afraid?"

"I'm…" She swallowed. "It's been a long time since I've been this...bare in front of people."

"Are you a virgin?"

Jyn turned bright red. "No!" But then it had been quite a while. Not that it mattered. The job came first. It was important to her. She didn't have time for dating or anything else. Besides, no one had ever caught her interest. The only guys in her life for years had been an old dog and Cassian. "But it was always…in the dark…"

"I don't know what made you think this way," Imwe told her, "but you are an attractive woman. You shouldn't feel like you have to hide."

"That's easy for you to say," Jyn pointed out. "You're blind."

Imwe smiled at that, never one to be insulted. "True, but I know how others react. It tells a much different story than the one you believe."

Biting her lip, Jyn's thoughts turned to Cassian, whether she wanted them to or not. She couldn't help but think about the other night at the club. Okay, so she'd been a little buzzed, but she hadn't been drunk or incoherent. She could still very much recall the way he'd held her against him, almost possessively, and how he'd looked at her with such open wanting. It had caught her off guard, but had her body humming as well. Not in an unpleasant way either. And then the way he'd gripped her tighter, leaned closer, she'd almost thought that he was going to kiss her.

Twice he'd called her beautiful. Cassian didn't have any reason to lie to her, not about that, not even in an attempt to soothe her nerves over the op. Why was she so hesitant to believe him when she'd never questioned him before?

"I guess it's just never come up," Jyn finally said.

"No one has ever made you feel like you're beautiful?"

She shook her head. "I was always too bossy, too aggressive, too… I don't know." She did not want to talk about this, but then, she had never liked talking about how she felt. It was easier to just push her feelings to the wayside and ignore them until she died. "You get treated like you're one of the guys long enough; you kind of forget what it feels like to be seen as a woman. And it worked out for me. I've seen how some of the other female agents are treated. I never want to be like that."

"Of course not, I can sympathize with that." Imwe put a hand on her shoulder and she turned around to face him. No, he couldn't see her, and yet it felt like he could. "But that doesn't mean you should be ashamed of being a woman. It's a part of who you are and it's not a bad thing to want to be seen as a woman sometimes either. You are who you are - mess, job, sarcasm, woman, and all."

"Ugh, I didn't know emotional therapy came with the beauty queen lessons," Jyn griped, but there wasn't any heat in her voice. She hoped that he'd heard the smile in it as she spoke. Judging from the way he returned it, he had and relief spread through her.

Did she feel any better about wearing the bikini? Not really. Did she feel more comfortable in her own skin? A little to be honest, which was surprising in itself. She'd always thought of herself as confident and comfortable with who she was, but this op was beginning to stir up some harsh questions. She wasn't used to that.

Taking a breath, she took the swimsuit and slipped into the changing room. It wasn't nearly as difficult to put on as the pageant dress, but she still had a moment where she could figure out how to get the top right. She pretended it was like tying the necklace her mother had given her as a child: just a simple tangle of strings, nothing difficult. Once it was over, she put on the heels (which honestly was a ridiculous combination - who wore heels to a swimming pool besides maybe models? - but it wasn't like anyone was asking her), pulled on a fluffy bathrobe, and stepped out.

"We have to see what it looks like, Jyn, before we send you out there," Malbus pointed out.

Jyn grumbled, her lips twisted into a frown, but slowly undid the belt and opened the bathrobe. Her eyes rolled to the ceiling and stayed there as Malbus carefully picked at the suit. Despite his burly and aggressive nature, he was gentle with her, careful to touch her as little as possible. She appreciated that. There was no lingering gaze or suggestiveness in his handling. It was all professional and she felt only a little awkward. This was fine. It was just her coaches, one of which was blind. As long as no one else saw her until she was on stage…

"Hey, I finally managed to get ahold of the complaint records against Krennic-"

 _Shit!_ It was Cassian. Immediately, Jyn's brain went into panic mode and her eyes snapped forward. He was walking towards them, his focus entirely on the file in his hands, totally unaware of what he was about to walk into. As if on cue, she could feel the air on every inch of her exposed skin. Malbus quickened his examination, fixing the back of her swimsuit, so that she could hide again, but it was too late. Cassian's head was rising, his eyes lifting towards her, almost in slow motion for the warning signals going off in her head.

The second his eyes locked on her and he realized what she was wearing - or rather, what she wasn't - his eyes widened in surprise and he almost dropped the file. Not only did her cheeks turn red, but the flush went all the way down to her neck and chest. It felt as if someone had lit a bonfire and used her as tinder. Honestly, she would have been grateful if they had; then she could've melted away and this would've all been forgotten.

"I, ah-" Cassian cleared his throat, but he didn't look away from her. His face had turned pink as well, though she couldn't imagine why. He was fully clothed. "The swimsuit part is tonight."

"Marvelous deduction, Agent Andor," Imwe chirped.

Jyn could die right now and probably be happy.

Cassian stared at her for another beat, an open mixture of emotions warring on his face, before he managed to shut them all down and was left with a blank expression. Or at least he did the best he could. Unlike every other time, the heat in his eyes did not leave. That gaze was burning her. She wanted to shoot him. He took a breath, similar to hers just minutes ago, and looked back down at the file. "It's no big deal. You go swimming all the time at the gym in the Bureau, right?"

"Yeah, but never in a bikini and always after hours," Jyn replied in a rushed voice. "I have an arrangement with the cleaning crew."

This caught his attention once more and she really wished it hadn't. Why did his gaze have to be so damn intrusive? It was maddening. "Why?" _Don't say it._ "You look great."

Jyn could only grunt in response. Once Malbus was done, she folded the bathrobe over herself again and held it shut tight against her like some sort of body armor. In a way, it was; this stupid, fluffy bathrobe was the only thing standing in the way of safety and humiliation for her.

As Malbus and Imwe conversed with one another in low voices about something, Cassian stepped closer to her so that he could hand her the papers to look over. Even as she took them, she was painfully aware of how close he was to her. She felt completely naked underneath the robe with him standing there, even though she knew that she wasn't. He'd seen plenty of women in bikinis before and even less than that. For some reason, that only made her feel worse.

His presence was impossible to ignore, but she focused hard on the files and did her best. It wasn't like they had never been this close to one another. The night at the club had been different, but this was normal. Her reading through a file as he looked over her shoulder. It was an appropriate enough distance. Maybe closer than normal, but they'd been partners for a long time. And he was looking at the file in her hands, not her. The only difference now was that she was in a bikini.

Oh, and then there was the voice in the back of her mind that wished he was somehow closer. Something very unbidden had shifted inside of her after the other night. It had been a long time since she'd been that close to anyone, especially a man, and she'd suddenly realized how much she missed it. She hadn't thought she did - the job was her life and that was that - but she did. Even worse, whenever she tried to picture something like that happening again, she could only recall the way it felt to be pressed up against him, his face, his touch.

It was pissing her off.

"These are some nasty allegations," Jyn surmised, forcing her brain to the task at hand.

"Nothing has been been legally done, but it looks like it's getting to that point and the people running the pageant want to nip it in the bud while they can," Cassian replied. "Sweep it all under the rug, as it were."

Jyn scoffed. "Of course. Just get rid of him, pay the women off, smile for the cameras, and keep quiet."

"I didn't say it was a good thing," Cassian pointed out, "just efficient."

Both of them focused on the file again. It would be nice if they could catch him in the act, but the MC was acting on his best behavior in public, perhaps in hopes that the higher ups would change their minds and keep him on. He had denied everything, of course, and was threatening to sue for unlawful termination, but so far, it seemed like he was just blowing smoke. The allegations were just that right now - there was that whole innocent until proven guilty in a court of law thing - but if they got actual proof of his harassment of the contestants, it would be a lot easier to press him for questions about the bomb threats.

"It's just smoke right now," Jyn said, "but where there's this much smoke, there's usually a fire."

"What are you thinking?"

"If we could force his hand, get him to show this sort of behavior, it'd be nice leverage." Jyn glanced up at him. She could see his mind working as he connected the dots; she could also tell that the moment he realized what she was saying, he didn't like it one bit. He frowned, but even more obvious was the suddenly stormy look on his face. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that he was a bit jealous.

"No, no way, you're already putting yourself out there as it is," Cassian told her. "But using yourself as bait for this bastard? I don't think so."

Jyn snapped the file shut. "It's not entirely your call."

"Are you sure? I believe I _am_ the one running this op."

"Yeah, but I'm the one in the middle of it. You trust my instincts, don't you?"

Cassian quickly closed his mouth, his eyes never leaving hers. She saw the trust in them, the same look he'd given her when he had told her at the club that he'd never thought she was hopeless. He still didn't like it though. Well, if it made him feel any better, she didn't either. She already felt like a sitting duck in this bathing suit and heels. Might as well add one more blow to her ego.

Jyn tore her eyes away from him. "It's worth a shot, but I don't think much will come of it. I'm not his type."

"And why is that?" Cassian asked. It almost sounded like he was saying something different, something more along the lines of, _how is that possible?_ But no, she was being ridiculous, reading in the middle of the lines. That had never been her thing; it was Cassian's specialty. He could pick out things just from the way a person sighed.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not tall and blonde," Jyn replied dryly, mentally adding, _with a large rack._ She was not going to talk about her breasts with him, no way, no how. She was crass by nature, but never about things like that and definitely not with her partner who she'd been grinding all over the night before. God, what was wrong with her?

"Well, you've got one thing," Cassian said, opening up the file again. "He likes strong women that resist. I'd say that you've got that in the bag."

She wasn't going to blush; she refused. "Are you calling me difficult?"

Cassian grinned. "Let's go with 'willful'." No, she didn't think she liked that either, but before she could say anything, the grin disappeared and he took hold of her elbow. It wasn't a tight grip, just a gentle hold as if to let her know that he was there, even though he was standing right next to her. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

Shaken by the soft look on his face, Jyn deflected as best as she could. "In that case, tell Imwe that I can only wear flats from now on. Heels are dangerous."

"But they're great for your calves and butt!" Imwe called out cheerfully.

Both Jyn and Cassian hastily looked away from one another at that statement and he let go of her elbow so that he could take a step back away from her. She handed the file back over to him and looked miserably at the door that she would have to walk through to meet with the rest of the girls before going on stage. It felt a lot like she was about to walk in front of the firing squad.

* * *

For the first time since entering this competition, Jyn was in a panic - and it was not because of some ridiculous outfit that she was being forced to wear. The fact that she had managed to make it through the cuts was a miracle in itself. She could almost forget the sparkly cheerleading outfit that Malbus had found for the talent part of the competition. Something had to distract the judges from the fact that twirling batons and fake rifles about wasn't the greatest skill on the planet.

Except now all of her materials were gone and she was rushing around backstage like a mad woman.

Jyn ran up to one of the guys that worked backstage. "Have any of you seen a black bag? The one with my talent equipment?"

The guy made the unfortunate mistake of giving her a once-over, a smirk appearing on his face. Damn this bloody outfit. It gave some men the worst ideas. "Sure you're not hiding them under your skirt?"

Before he could even blink, Jyn snatched him by the front of his shirt and jerked him forward so hard that his headset fell off. The smirk vanished from his face, quickly replaced by a look of shock. "Listen, you stupid pervert, I'm going to ignore that, but only if you tell me where that bag went."

"I-I don't know!"

Another guy rushed over towards them. "Was it the one with the weapons?"

"Weapons?" Jyn furrowed her brow. "They were props for my second round in the talent competition."

"Security saw the rifles and-"

"They were fake! Plastic!" Jyn pushed the backstage employee back, nearly shoving him off his feet. He stumbled into one of the lamps, clinging to it tightly so that it didn't topple over. She resisted the extreme urge to run her fingers through her hair or rub at her face, knowing that it would ruin all the hard work the stylists had done for her, even if she looked dumb. Instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath.

It didn't work.

By the time she opened her eyes, the two men were slowly backing away from her. She didn't care what they thought. Without her equipment, she was useless. What was she going to do? Go on stage and do a comedy routine? Now that was a laugh. She didn't have any other skills. All she knew how to do was fire a gun accurately and throw men twice her size to the ground on the mat. Those weren't beauty pageant talents. They were her.

Imwe's words to her the other day popped into her head: _You are who you are._

And she knew what to do.

Without a second to lose, she found Malbus and explained the situation. An intrigued look briefly crossed his face, one she didn't think he was capable of, but instead of arguing with her or saying it was a stupid idea, he nodded his head and got to work right away. Convincing him wasn't the problem. Cassian, on the other hand, was another story. He would not enjoy being dragged into the limelight, not when he was supposed to stay in the background and he had already been seen by a few of the contestants. Luckily, she had a plan. It was half-cocked, but it was better than nothing.

The second she heard her name called, Jyn walked onto the stage and waved at the crowd, smiling shyly at them. It was supposed to be endearing. She hoped Malbus would catch onto it and relay it to Imwe, who had her practicing her smiles in the mirror every night and day.

Once the crowd's applause died down, Jyn folded her hands behind her back and wobbled on her feet. "Well, I was supposed to be showing you a bit of talent regarding my history with the color guard, but apparently, plastic rifles are not something to mess around with. My apologies for any inconvenience I caused the staff."

There was actually a smattering of laughter through the crowd. Had her sarcasm finally come in handy for something? That probably wasn't what Imwe had had in mind when he'd told her to be true to herself in his own way, but it was all she had now. No tricks, no coaches to back her up and tell her what to do, no earpiece with Cassian guiding her through this - just herself.

"Since that is out of the question, unless you all enjoy miming, I decided to showcase something a little different: self-defense. It's not a typical talent for a beauty pageant, but I believe it's important for everyone, especially young women, to know in case of emergencies." She could see people in the crowd nodding their heads and many even began to clap. It bolstered her spirits in a way she hadn't expected. "I can't do this alone, however, but luckily, I met a handsome gentleman the other night that was kind enough to help a girl out."

Holding out a hand to the side curtain, Cassian appeared, though she noted that he had to be pushed by Malbus. He walked onto the stage, wearing a bright but sheepish smile. The crowd clapped again as he waved, looking all to the world like a slightly embarrassed man who had been thrown into a very unexpected situation. He still wore that look when he turned to face her, but his eyes were as close to murderous as her gaze usually came. Oh, sure, he was used to being undercover, but never in a spotlight like this. He'd only had a few minutes to prepare.

"Lucky for me, Mr. Sward was eager to return my call," Jyn told everyone, giving them a wink. The crowd laughed.

When he was standing right next to her, Cassian leaned in, that grin still plastered on his face. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed through his teeth.

"Showcasing what I do best," Jyn told him with a hand over her mic. She smiled at him and pat him on the cheek, making him blink and raise his eyebrows. "Beating you up."

Cassian was not amused by that, but he didn't let the grin slide from his face. He was a good sport like that. Of course, by the end of the self-defense demonstration, he definitely wasn't grinning any longer. In fact, he wasn't even standing anymore. She'd knocked him off his feet, quite literally, and he was still laying there when she took a bow to a boisterous applause from the crowd. After she helped him to his feet, they both bowed again and then all but rushed off the stage. Well, she rushed; he sort of limped with a hand pressed to the small of his back.

"You are certainly one hell of a woman," Imwe said by way of greeting as he floated over to her. He kissed her on both cheeks and was practically beaming. Behind him, even Malbus was grinning a little. Jyn felt like she was on cloud nine. Not only had she done something that she loved and was good at, but the crowd had enjoyed it as well. She was elated, smiling big and as close to laughing as she had been since the beginning of this op.

The only person that seemed to not have enjoyed the show was Cassian, judging from the way he was grimacing. He had taken a pretty decent beating without complaint though. Her smile faded as she bit her lip and the two of them walked slowly out of the backstage area as the other contestants got ready for their turn on stage.

When they were out of sight, Jyn cornered him, laying a hand on his arm and one on his side. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Cassian told her, still slightly bent over. "I've had worse." She opened her mouth to apologize - for springing this on him and for, well, knocking him around on stage - but he took the hand that was touching his side and squeezed it. A genuine smile appeared on his face. "You did good. I'm proud of you."

Relief blossomed in Jyn's chest. A small voice told her that she should pull away from him, but she didn't. She stayed where she was and he didn't let go of her hand. She remembered when she had been afraid that she would disappoint him or ruin this op for him somehow, but to hear simple words like that from him meant a lot. She had done good and she'd done it by being herself or as close to it as she could in front of a televised audience while parading as a beauty queen.

"Besides, I think it got the ball rolling on your other little plan," Cassian said as he forced himself to straighten up. She looked at him questioningly. "You were focused on Imwe, so you didn't see the way Krennic was eyeing you. Looks like you might have changed his mind on his type."

"Good, maybe I can beat him up too," Jyn quipped. "That would be a lot more entertaining."

"I don't know," Cassian sighed. "It seemed like you had a pretty good time out there."

Jyn shrugged her shoulders. "I guess it did feel good to let off a little steam."

Cassian gave her a little bow and said, "Glad I could be of service," before squeezing her hand again and finally letting it go. She couldn't deny that she missed the contact immediately. "Now you might want to change out of that outfit before you give anyone else any ideas."

And moment effectively ruined.


	5. Chapter 5

The men wisely took a step away from him the moment another person appeared on the camera they had set up at Jyn's vanity backstage. Cassian didn't even notice their reaction or even realize that his expression had turned cold enough to freeze hell over. Jyn was standing at the mirror, mumbling incoherent obscenities to herself while trying to organize the disaster she'd caused after spilling her makeup bag, and hadn't seen the person coming up from behind her.

On one hand, Cassian wanted to warn her, but on the other, it would look better if she made a genuine reaction. Besides, he thought she would be more irritated if he did say something; she might think that he didn't believe she could handle herself against some older creep. Absurd, really, when he'd witnessed her take down men twice her size without resorting to use her service weapon.

But that didn't mean he liked the fact that he was essentially letting her hang out in the open in the field.

"Miss Dawn, you seem terribly displeased," the newcomer said. "Do you require any help?"

Jyn jumped and spun around. Cassian immediately recognized the wild look in her eyes that he could just barely make out in the mirror and thought for a split second that she was going to break the intruder's nose in response to being startled, but then it vanished with a few blinks of her eyes. Damn, Imwe really had worked wonders on her. Before this operation, it would've taken at least a minute for her to school her expression into something less threatening.

"Oh, Mr. Krennic, you scared me," Jyn replied with a breathy laugh, placing a delicate hand over her chest.

Her voice nearly made Cassian laugh - it was so light and sweet, so very unlike her - but then he caught the grin spreading on Krennic's face and that urge died very quickly, replaced with something much more violent. She was playing a role, a woman tiptoeing the line between dainty and independent. She couldn't come off as too fragile or Krennic wouldn't like it, but she couldn't punch him in his face either. She was a beauty queen, after all. It was all about appearances.

"I didn't think anything or anyone could scare you after that marvelous, impromptu performance for the second talent show round," Krennic pointed out. A smart move, considering that Jyn's take on self-defense had shown how to react when someone tried to grab you from behind.

Jyn tugged at her hair, which had been braided over her shoulder in a test run for the next round. "Well, normally, I'm not so lost in my thoughts, but I'll admit to being a little frazzled the morning before going on stage."

"You seem to handle yourself well enough out there."

"I've never been on a show of this calibre before and it was all so last minute." Jyn was doing well. She was handling herself well, whether Krennic realized it or not. Cassian could see a little agitation in her shoulders, but besides that, she was disguising it quite well as nervousness. She was busying her hands so that she wouldn't throttle Krennic, most likely. "I didn't expect to suddenly get handed the title of Miss Kansas, much less get so far in the Miss America competition."

No, she hadn't. They had hoped to find the person making the bomb threat before it got too far, but they were nearing the end of the competition and she was still in it. None of them could've predicted this outcome. Cassian had the utmost faith in his partner, but even he would admit surprise that she'd done so well in the competition itself and no one was more shocked than Jyn herself. She'd been certain that she'd wash out in the first round, but here she was, holding her own against women with far more experience in this than her.

"I thought all the women came here thinking they could win," Krennic said in an amused voice, as if he knew the inner workings of the contestant's mind. Cassian rolled his eyes. The last thing Krennic knew anything about was women, especially what they were thinking. If he did know, he would've stayed clear of Jyn, who was probably thinking of all the ways she could incapacitate him right now.

"I came here as a second place stand in," Jyn replied, "but I also came with the intentions to fight."

"Oh, I saw!" Krennic marveled. "In all my time with this competition, I've never seen something like that. It was quite...invigorating."

"Well thank you," Jyn said in a syrupy sweet voice, which caused Cassian to snort. It had been loud enough for her to hear in the mic she kept in her ear. He thought he saw her twitch a little. "You've worked on the show for quite a while, haven't you?"

A pleased expression crossed Krennic's face. No doubt he enjoyed his long presence on the show being pointed out. "Yes, I have. I've worked tirelessly on it for years. The show was floundering in the ratings until I joined and it's been soaring ever since."

"I wonder what they would do without you."

That struck a chord. The pleased expression fell briefly to a dark look, but he made it go away quickly, putting a smile back on his face. He'd worked in showbiz for long enough; he knew how to control himself. But being taken off the one thing that he considered his was definitely causing him strain and making the cracks in his facade more pronounced. Jyn, for her part, pretended not to notice his sudden change in mood, as if she'd just missed it.

"Fall into despair, of course," Krennic told her, "but not to worry. I'm too important." When Jyn tilted her head in a questioning manner, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course, it's the women who are the stars of the show. I'm only happy I can do something to promote them and help them become a household name." His hand started to slide down her arm. Alarms began to go off in Cassian's head, but he stilled himself, just as Jyn did. The urge to crumple something up crossed his mind, but all he had was expensive surveillance equipment at hand. "I'd like to do that for you, Kestral. May I call you that?"

Jyn nodded her head in a slightly stiff manner. Normally, Cassian would've told her to loosen up, but that would've been hypocritical since he was having trouble doing that himself.

"You really think I have a chance?" Jyn asked, sounding so hopeful and a hint innocent, the mark of a woman that knew how to protect herself but had never been put in the position to do so. It was untrue, of course, but Krennic would see a strong woman that he could possibly manipulate.

"My dear, I can do anything I want," Krennic answered with a laugh. "I look at you and I see a star in the making. It just needs a little attention."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence," Jyn said, putting a bright smile on her face and doing her best to ignore the way that Krennic was stroking her arm. The amount of self control it must've taken her to not do anything had to be astounding, especially when Cassian felt like breaking the other man's hand. "I really should get back to cleaning up this mess. I don't think Miss America is supposed to be disorganized."

"Of course, of course." Krennic nodded his head and kept his eyes on her as she turned away from him so that his hand fell away from her arm. She put her attention back on cleaning up the make up, perhaps hoping that he would leave before she blew up. But then he leaned closer to her and put his hand on the small of her back before handing her a card. "If you need anything or have any questions, don't hesitate to call me. I take care of the girls that deserve special attention."

Cassian tried to focus on Jyn's reaction, but all he could see was red. How dare that bastard even think of touching her so intimately? As if invading her space and touching her arm wasn't enough. Special attention indeed. Even if this guy wasn't the bomber, Cassian was going to be sure that he went down for being a total creep. He was so caught up in his own dark thoughts that he missed whatever Jyn said in response.

As Krennic finally walked away, Cassian slumped in seat and Jyn's shoulders fell. Her hands clenched into fists, curling around a thing of mascara, and there was a furious expression on her face. He wasn't sure how much longer she would've lasted. Worse things had been said and done to her, but not while she was lacking all the usual things that made up her armor.

"Are you okay?" Cassian asked over the mic.

"I'm fine," Jyn replied tersely.

"Jyn-"

"I said I'm fine, Cassian!" Jyn snapped. "You don't need to baby me."

Cassian closed his mouth and said nothing else. Her eyes flickered up to the camera briefly, connecting with his even though she couldn't possibly know that he was looking at her. A hint of shame and embarrassment flooded her face, but then she turned it into anger and looked back down so that her bangs blocked her face from view. It only made him feel worse. Taking off his headset, he leaned back in the chair and ran his fingers through his hair. Right now, Jyn looked about as tired and agitated as he felt.

Thankfully, none of the men in the room said anything.

* * *

Later that night, while Jyn was busy preparing with Imwe and Malbus for the interview portion tomorrow night, Cassian decided to go for a swim at the hotel's pool to let off some steam. There were two pools and the rooms the agents were set up in were on the opposite side of the large hotel from the contestant's. Most, if not all of the contestant's aside from Jyn, were most likely asleep already anyways.

Now that the women knew his face, he had to be more careful showing it around. They'd probably think he was a stalker. Wouldn't that be funny? Jyn would tease him relentlessly for that.

Working out had always been a good way to relax. If they were back at the Bureau, he and Jyn would spar in the gym, but that wasn't an option. They couldn't afford to accidentally injure her; besides, he wasn't so sure that she wouldn't hurt him. They hadn't really spoken since this morning after her interaction with Krennic. He had tried to talk to her once, but she had brushed him off, saying that she was running late for lunch with Leia. Since then, he hadn't found anything to say to her, not even over the mic.

It irritated him. A part of him knew that she wasn't really mad at him. Okay, maybe a little, but mostly it seemed like she was displacing her anger about Krennic onto him. It made sense. She couldn't attack or snap at Krennic, but Cassian was safe. They bickered often enough while working together, though it had never truly hindered their communication before. Now something had changed between them and he was having trouble figuring out what to do when he'd never struggled with her before.

A good swim would keep him cool. All he had to do was keep his head down, clear his mind, and focus on the physical workout. He figured an hour would do the trick. It wasn't a large pool, but it was good enough. Luckily it was still warm outside even at night. Doing laps always made him feel better in the end. As long as he didn't think about anything, especially not Jyn in that two piece swimsuit she'd worn for the competition, everything would be just fine and he'd get his head back on straight.

Things were going well and he was starting to feel pretty good along with a decent burn when something struck him in the head. He immediately stopped, pulling his feet underneath him to stand up, and rubbed the back of his head with one hand as he tore his goggles off to catch his assailant, only to find that it was Jyn standing at the edge of the pool.

She was wearing not only one of the deepest scowls he had ever seen, but a dark pink, strapless dress. It must've been one of the dresses Malbus had her try on for the interview. The slit ran all the way up to her mid thigh and the slight wind was causing the sheer material to flap behind her. In her hand, she was holding onto the other flat that matched the one she'd thrown at him.

All in all, she reminded him of a storm - and not a happy one.

"What the hell was that for?" Cassian demanded.

"What the hell has all of this been for?" Jyn questioned in return just as heatedly, if not more.

Cassian furrowed his brow and held his hands up. "What do you mean?"

"Today!" Jyn exploded.

"You didn't seem like you wanted to talk, so I didn't press it," Cassian told her. "You were busy."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

"Then what are you talking about?"

For a second, it looked as if she was going to chuck the other shoe at him and he was fully prepared for her to launch it at his face, but instead she gripped it tighter and held it against her chest. The lights in and around the pool reflected off of her face so that he was able to get a better look at her. She didn't just look angry; she looked genuinely confused and maybe hurt. Her cheeks were as pink as her dress too and he didn't think it was because of any makeup.

"I felt bad for acting cold with you, so I went to the room to talk to you about it," Jyn explained in a tight voice, folding her arms across her chest, "but you weren't there, just some of the guys." Okay, so maybe they had teased her because of the very feminine dress that she was wearing. He didn't have a clue what that had to do with him, so he waited for her to continue. "They couldn't stop joking about how you were acting when Krennic showed up. Do you really think I can't take care myself?"

"What?" Cassian raised his eyebrows. "No, of course not!"

"Then why were you acting so bent out of shape?" Jyn asked. "They said you looked ready to jump right in!"

At that, Cassian felt at a loss for words. Truth be told, he had wanted to jump in, but not for the reason that Jyn was thinking. It wasn't that he believed she couldn't handle herself; he knew that she was more than capable of doing just that and had felt it firsthand not only during this competition but before too. If there was one thing he knew Jyn was excellent at, it was defending herself. Sometimes, she acted like she had to defend herself against the entire world, though he didn't know what had happened to make her so defensive of everything.

But he did not want to admit that the reason he'd wanted to step in and push Krennic away from her was because he was jealous. He hadn't liked the way the other man had touched her so freely, not when Cassian himself always tried to keep a proper distance and keep their touching to a minimum. The night at the club had been an outlier. He and Jyn had always lacked when it came to personal space with each other, but beyond accidentally brushing against one another or helping the other out after an injury or whatnot, they didn't touch intimately.

That was part of the reason why he'd needed the swim. He wanted to distract himself. Ever since that night when they'd danced together, his thoughts had been dangerously muddled and he didn't need that while running an op. He refused to let himself be compromised, mostly because he knew how much it would offend her. He'd never acted like an idiot around her before. She would think that he was seeing her differently now only because of the dresses, makeup, and personality change. And maybe they had opened his eyes a little, but he'd liked Jyn the way she was before all of this.

The woman who threw him around onstage and tossed her shoe at him angrily and kept herself together even when she was fit to hurt someone - that was the woman he admired and liked, not the dolled up sweet version.

Taking a deep breath, Cassian tried his best to deflate the situation. "I just didn't like the way that Krennic was making you uncomfortable. I know how you are about people touching you. I have complete faith in you, but you can't blame your backup for wanting to do just that. You've always had my back during ops."

The fight began to slip out of Jyn, slowly but surely. He could tell by the way her muscles began to loosen and her shoulders slump. She had been holding herself together very tightly. Even her face softened. There was still a wary look in her eyes, but she no longer looked upset or pissed off. He waded closer to the edge of the pool and she took half a step back, like she wanted to flee, but then she paused and frowned down at him.

"You're under a lot of pressure; I get it," Cassian told her. "But the one thing you don't have to worry about is me thinking you're incapable of doing this."

"Yeah, well, Imwe says I need to lighten up," Jyn grumped. "Scowling all the time will cause wrinkles."

"But your scowl is your patented look," Cassian pointed out cheekily.

Jyn rolled her eyes. "It's got nothing on your impossible to read expression."

"Am I impossible to read now?" Cassian asked, gazing up at her. She took a moment to look over him, her eyes narrowed, and harrumphed at him, apparently unable to decide. He grinned and held out a hand. "Truce?"

"Oh, sure, whatever," Jyn sighed, reaching down to take his hand.

He hadn't been planning on doing it - just shaking her hand and that was it - but she leaned forward slightly as she bent over to grasp his hand and he knew that she was off balance. His mind went back to the last time they'd sparred together and she'd kicked him flat on his back and then to the other night when she'd used him as a dummy in her impromptu self-defense class on stage.

And so it only made sense that he pull as hard as he could and drag her into the pool with him.

Jyn let out a squeal right before she connected with the water. He let go of her and was laughing by the time she came back up seconds later, gasping and sputtering water. Her hair was plastered against her head, some of it covering her face, and the skirt of the dress floated around her in the water, making her look like some sort of pink swamp monster. When she finally caught her balance, she shoved her hair out of her face and gave him a ferocious look. Normally, that would've stopped him in his tracks, but she looked so ridiculous. Her makeup was starting to run; they hadn't used the waterproof kind to test on her tonight.

"What the hell, Cassian!" Jyn nearly shouted.

He knew that he needed to stop laughing right away or he was going to end up with a broken rib or too, but he couldn't help himself. She really did look hilarious. When he didn't stop or answer her, she tried to launch herself to attack him, but the dress made it nearly impossible. It held her back and made her clumsy, causing her to flap around in the water somewhat helplessly, which only made him laugh more. Swelling up with rage, she began to splash water at him, about the only thing she could do in retaliation as he easily outmaneuvered her.

"Malbus is going to kill you for ruining this dress," Jyn told him scathingly as she swiped her face.

"Worth it," Cassian replied, still grinning as he tried to contain his laughter.

"Unless I kill you first." She splashed water at him again, but it was almost too easy to get out of her range. It left her to hop around awkwardly in the water in an attempt to get him.

The more she struggled though, the less angry she became, until she too was smiling and nearly laughing herself. It was almost like they were two carefree teenagers, playing in the pool and acting like fools. All of the furious tension that had been swirling about them before was dissipating. He could count on his hands the amount of times he had seen Jyn laugh and smile so easily despite having known her for years, but each time she did made it feel like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

He slowed down for her so that she could catch up. She managed to connect a hand to his chest, shoving him as hard as she could, but in the water, it did little more than push him back. When she went to splash him again right in his face, he leaped forward and grabbed her by the wrists. The momentum and her inability to keep a balance in the dress caused her to stumble back into the wall of the pool and he bumped up against her. She was still smiling, but slowly that began to fade.

At first, Cassian didn't realize it, but everything had gone still around them. Beyond the water lapping against the walls, the only sound was their equally heavy breathing, though he could've sworn his heart was beating loud enough for both of them to hear. He still had a hold of her wrists, but her fingers were brushing against his chest and he was as close to her now as he had been the night at the club. No, closer this time. The lamps below the water gave him just enough light to see the brown flecks in her dark green eyes.

The tension was back in full force, but it wasn't the same as before. It was something different, something much less tangible, but one that he recognized. He'd felt it when they were dancing. She was wearing the same look on her face - open but wary in the eyes - like she was beckoning him forward. The only difference was that there was no one to interrupt them now. No Leia to jump in and pull her away, no agents to intrude. Just the two of them, alone in a pool, in the middle of the night.

Now this, Cassian knew, was singlehandedly the most danger he'd been in this entire op.

He let go of her wrists with one hand so that he could lift it to her face. She took a hesitant breath, almost a gasp, when his thumb brushed against her cheek, but she didn't pull away. In fact, she leaned in closer, water moving around them. Beyond the callouses on her palms and the hard muscles of her lithe body, she was as soft as he'd imagined.

When Jyn bit her lip, a habit he knew she did whenever she was antsy, it made things so much worse. "Cassian?" she asked, her voice barely more than whisper.

He wanted to kiss her. The thought struck him so powerfully that it shocked him. This was his partner. This was Jyn, for god's sake. She was as close to a best friend as he could have. They were in the middle of an undercover op to find a bomber. And he wanted to kiss her. Who looked ridiculous now?

Even worse, as much as he wanted to kiss her, he couldn't do it. Not here, not now. He couldn't put her in an awkward position like that. He shouldn't have done what he was doing now. He should've continued to treat her professionally and with respect, not dragging her as close to him as possible and invading her space. He was being irresponsible and an idiot.

"We should go," Cassian said quietly. "It's getting late."

"Yeah," Jyn replied, and he tried not to think about how disappointed she might've sounded.

He didn't let her go, but he knew that if he didn't in a few seconds, he'd do something completely irrational both of them would probably regret later on. And so he did and fell back in the water slightly to float away from her. It gave her enough space to push herself from the wall and towards the stairs at one side of the pool. He moved to help her, but she waved him away and clambered out herself. The dress clung to her terribly, dripping water everywhere, and she had to hold the sheer material up so she wouldn't trip on it.

When she finally turned around to face him, he handed over her flats and she took them without a word. She was wearing a neutral expression on her face - or trying to at least. Imwe's training must've failed her now because she was still open in a way that made him ache with want. But she must've recognized the flat look on his own face because all she did was press her lips together in a thin line, nod her head, and head in the direction of her room.

Before she was even out of his sight, Cassian ducked under the water and pressed his face to his hands. His first time running an op and he was making a total mess of things with his partner of all people. And everyone said that he was so professional too. Well look at him now.

* * *

Jyn looked absolutely radiant on the screen as she walked across the stage, but then Malbus and Imwe had been kinder to her than expected after she'd returned the pink dress to them sopping wet. The dress she was wearing for the interview portion of the competition was much more modest and Cassian could tell that she was a lot more comfortable, even if the long skirt went all the way down to her toes. It was a green almost teal dress with a relatively plain skirt but a beautifully patterned top that shined when the light hit her. The neckline cut across her collarbone and there were small capped sleeves.

To anyone else in the world, Jyn would look like a picturesque pageant queen, beaming at the cameras and waving to the crowd before taking her seat next to Krennic in the middle of the stage. He was wearing a fitted grey suit and a tie that almost matched her dress, but the smile and look on his face was all professional. There was no way he was going to act like a creep on camera in front of millions of viewers.

Cassian still wanted to sock him right in the jaw.

Next to him were Imwe and Malbus, who were listening and watching the interview respectively. Imwe had spent hours with Jyn practicing for this interview, as it made up a large percentage of the points in the competition; he had been grilling her night after night, which had made for a very crabby Jyn by the time she dragged herself to his room to look over the files with him.

Imwe looked at peace now, but whether he remained like that would very much depend on what came out of Jyn's mouth. It was better than the knowing air around him when Cassian had joined him, like he knew exactly what had happened the other night and why Jyn's original dress had been ruined. Cassian was not going to talk about it though. He wasn't even going to think about it. Now was certainly not the time. Definitely not when she looked like she was glowing. There were other things to worry about.

The interview started normal enough. Krennic asked her questions similar to the ones that he'd asked the women before her. They were softball questions, in Imwe's words, but they could be tricky as well, especially for someone as prickly as Jyn whose immediate response was sarcasm and defensiveness.

"Describe your perfect date."

An intimate picnic on the beach with meals that she and her date had prepared together. Cassian pictured her as more of a gun range at the state forest park sort of girl or maybe a night of beers, take out, and mindless action movies - but then they'd done both of those things together.

"If you could come back as any animal, what would it be?"

A dog because they were loyal, intelligent, and sweet. Of course, the only type of dog that Cassian could picture was a bomb detecting dog, like a German Shepherd or a bloodhound. Everyone else was probably imagining a small, cute dog that could be easily picked up and cuddled. He knew Jyn liked larger dogs though that could do some damage if it was called for.

And then there was the curveball question, the one that actually meant something: "Many people believe that pageants like this are outdated and degrading to women. What would you say to them?"

Jyn paused here. No quick answer with a flash of a smile at the end. A thoughtful look crossed her faith. Imwe gripped Malbus' hand in anticipation, waiting for his student to speak. He had done what he could do to prepare her for this, but at the end of the day, the interview brought out a contestant's personality. Some of Jyn would shine through no matter what. They could only hope it was the same part of her that had come out during the second talent show round.

"I would say…" Jyn began carefully. "I would say that I agreed with them." The audience gasped and even Krennic looked shocked. Malbus grunted, but Imwe held up a hand telling him to be patient. "Or at least, I used to agree with them. For a long time, I looked at pageants and scoffed at them. How could anything that forced women to dress up like dolls, wear ridiculous and painful outfits, and perform all with a perfect smile and wave be anything but degrading? And the women who signed up for this had to be stupid. All they had going for them was their youth and looks. There was no depth behind that smile, no personality beyond the pretty dresses and makeup."

It looked as if the crowd was hanging on her every word, many leaning forward in their seats. Even Krennic had unconsciously moved towards her, an eager look on his face. So many people were ready to rip her apart. Cassian could see them frothing at the mouths. The women backstage were probably offended and couldn't wait to get their hands on her. But Jyn was completely honest in her words. Maybe Imwe had helped soften her, but this was all Jyn and Cassian knew it.

"I was wrong, of course," Jyn continued, a little smile on her face. "I actually got into the pageant business kind of by accident. And once I saw behind the curtain, my eyes were opened. These women are real and substantial. They aren't just beautiful on the outside. Many of them are the brightest, kindest, and funniest people that I have had the pleasure to meet. They have hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, fears and insecurities just like everyone else. I've never had a lot of female friends - I had trouble fitting in growing up - but I'm very fortunate to have these women in my life. They've helped me become a better person - stronger, more confident, and more accepting. I was missing something and it took these so-called 'outdated and degrading' pageants for me to realize that."

When she finished, there was a resounding applause. A few people in the crowd jumped to their feet to clap while many others were nodding their heads in agreement. Jyn looked incredibly pleased with herself, but also a little shy at having opened up so much, blushing slightly. Cassian himself was astounded. He had never heard her be so honest about her feelings. What had Imwe done to her?

"We did it!" Imwe cheered, holding up his and Malbus' interlocked hands. "She's brilliant!"

But then Jyn cleared her throat and added in a very sweet but firm voice, "And if anyone tried to hurt one of these wonderful women that have become my friends, I would hunt that person or persons down to the ends of the earth and nothing would stop me from inflicting the same pain on them." She smiled sharply at Krennic, who looked more than a little taken back by her sudden aggressive shift. "Thank you."

Imwe dropped Malbus' hand and sighed. "Well, I thought we did it at least. Oh well, close enough I suppose."

Meanwhile, Cassian couldn't stop smiling. Now that was unapologetically Jyn Erso. He even recognized that smile of hers. It was the look she gave to a criminal when she caught them redhanded in a lie during an interrogation or in the middle of a standoff when she had the upperhand. It was a vicious smile that tended to startle people. It definitely wasn't the right smile for a beauty pageant, but most people wouldn't recognize it for what it was. Her last remark was too direct for Cassian's taste, but he really did like that smile of hers. It was infectious.

Whoever was planning to bomb the pageant better have second thoughts after that.


End file.
